You’ve finally decided to get yourself some assistance and enlist the services of a Virtual Assistant. Good for you, it’s about time! But what should you be looking out for on your hunt for the best fit for you/your business? Everyone is different and will require a different skill set from their Virtual Assistant but there are some particular qualities that are a must-have across the board:
Reliability
Your Virtual Assistant must be reliable. If you can’t depend on them to get the job done in the timescales required, then you’d be better looking somewhere else.
Accessibility
You need to know that you can contact your Virtual Assistant by an agreed communication method in case of any emergencies or for jobs that need completing quickly. Depending on your particular agreement with your VA, you should expect a response within an agreed timescale.
Time Management and Organisational Skills
A Virtual Assistant usually has to deal with multiple tasks from multiple clients at any given time so they must be able to manage their own time effectively. Someone who is able to do this successfully is usually highly organised otherwise all the balls will start dropping.
Excellent Communication Skills
A Virtual Assistant has to receive, ‘translate’ and clarify their clients’ instructions to be able to complete the tasks at hand, so clear communication is vital. If your Virtual Assistant is required to liaise with your employees, customers or suppliers, you will want to ensure that their skills in communication are of the highest standard.
Resourcefulness
A quality Virtual Assistant can hit the ground running once a clear instruction has been received. Hand holding will not be required as they will have sufficient knowledge and experience to get to the bottom of the required end result. If not, they’ll ask!
Flexibility
Working with numerous clients on a variety of different projects will provide a Virtual Assistant with a broad range of skills and will also ensure that they are flexible in the services they offer.
Exceptional Service
Providing their clients with a bespoke service of the highest standard will be of paramount importance to a Virtual Assistant. Going above and beyond is usually the norm.
So where are you going to start looking for the perfect Virtual Assistant? The Society of Virtual Assistants is always a great starting point. Their approved VAs have to abide by a strict set of standards to gain and maintain their approved status so you can be sure that they have the highest of values.